


The Best Warriors

by elletromil



Series: You still wish... [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Introspection, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-16
Updated: 2012-12-16
Packaged: 2017-11-21 07:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/595039
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elletromil/pseuds/elletromil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The best warriors are those you do not expect to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Best Warriors

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Лучшие воины](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8816689) by [smokeymoon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/smokeymoon/pseuds/smokeymoon)



When you first saw him, you can’t help but wonder what Gandalf was smoking when he thought the Hobbit would be a good choice of a companion.  
It’s not really the fact that he obviously never so much as touched a weapon in his entire life nor is it that he’s clearly not a burglar.  
It’s the innocence you can so plainly see in him. The youngest of your company still maintain some of theirs, although theirs is not truly the same as his. His is an innocence only those who has never strived for anything can keep.  
He can’t ever understand your struggles, the reason you undergo such a dangerous quest, because he still has the comfort of his home. Why would he leave it to help some strangers?  
Yet, you’ve come to respect Gandalf’s judgment, perhaps you’ll be surprised. Perhaps you’re only imagining the contempt in which he seems to hold all of you.

*

You are.

*

You’re the only one who did not bet upon his coming or not. You doubt he will, even when you see Gandalf belief of the contrary.  
You can’t even hold it against him. Your own race has decided not to come to your help, a race used to hardships more than any other. Why would a mere Hobbit, one who has never hold a blade in all of his years, one who knows such a quiet peace in the Shire, why would he endangers his own life on a quest that does not concern him in the slightest?

*

You should remember that you’ve never seen the wizard mistaken.

*

It’s not that you don’t like him. Any other time, say around a good dinner and a warming fire, the Hobbit would make for a fine companion. He enjoys the stories of any feat done outside of his Shire; listen to them like a child who has never seen the world.  
You wish he would come to his senses and go back to the safety of his home, abandoning this folly.  
You have no need of a child.

*

You’re wrong.

*

You’re so used to fighting all of you, that once you’re captured by the Trolls, you only think of struggling against your ties.  
But Bilbo is not like the rest of your company. He’s not used to fighting for his survival.  
You don’t understand what he is trying to accomplish. Maybe he’s bargaining for his own life and if it is, you could hardly hold it against him. However, unlike him, you know of the world, you know there is no use arguing with Trolls. You wish you could tell him, tell him that he is wasting his breath. Tell him that you are sorry you’ve drag him along to his death.  
Until you suddenly understand. Dawn is near and with it, their salvation.  
It’s some quick thinking, you have to admit, but it is indubitably mostly luck on the Hobbit part.

*

You’ve always been good at denial.

*

His words hurt because they are true. All of your company knows it, but no one has ever spoken them out loud.  
You have no home. You are but wanderers.  
The Hobbit does not have his place amongst you.  
Good riddance.

*

If you focus on the anger, you don’t have to acknowledge the relief.

*

You can’t believe he is really gone. This is what truly angers you.  
He doesn’t owe you anything and you sure haven’t giving him any reason to. Besides, even if you cannot believe it, you are still relieved. His soul is too gentle to have known even half of the danger he has faced on this journey so far. He cannot protect himself and you don’t have the time to protect him.  
Sleep will come more easily now that you know that he is finding his in a comfortable bed, a roof above his head.

*

You did not know one could feel so many contradictory emotions at once.

*

You know that death is at your door at this very moment. Try as you may, you are too weak to defend yourself. You are broken and your struggles are useless.  
You console yourself knowing you’ve bought them time, that Gandalf will come up with something else that will hopefully save them all.  
You do not anticipate a rescue, especially not with Bilbo as your savior.

*

Maybe you should have.  
Gandalf chose him, didn’t he?

*

You know you are alive the moment you open your eyes and everything hurts.  
You don’t know how you feel about that.  
What you do know, is that Bilbo is nowhere in sight.  
Gandalf reassures you, an annoying knowing look on his face, but it is not enough.  
He is no warrior; he has never learnt how to fight for his life, much less those of others. Everything you know about the world tells you he should be a liability.  
You’re wrong.  
You begin to think the best warriors may be those you do not expect to be.

*

You still wish you could keep him in the security of your arms for a while longer.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick note, this work has not been beta-read in the slighest and I'm French writing in english, so if you see any errors just tell me so I can correct them, thank you ^^


End file.
